Blogs from Italy, Europe - page 1588

We know it's a little past Easter but we were in Florence on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday so none of the internet cafe's were open! By far the coolest part about Florence was the hostel we stayed in. It was a converted monastary on a hill about 3 km southeast of the city. We had to take a forty minute bus ride and then walk about 20 minutes (or 40 when we were carrying our backpacks!) up the hill. Luckily we met some kids at the bus stop who were going the same direction and they helped us carry some of our stuff half way up the hill. It was all worth it though, once you were at the top. The hostel overlooked the city and the hills beneath it were full of olive groves ... read more

Have arrived. My first impression is of wetness and dirt and decay and incredible age. This city has the kind of rich smells and stone streets slick with unknown substances that seem typical of warmer climes. Every step I take, I can't get away from the sheer size and age of the place. I don't think it's quite sunken in that I'm walking through the birthplace of modern civilization. I've stopped for food (I'd have to call it elevenses) in a little garden overlooking the Foro Romana. I'm soaking up the sun, thinking that a Roman princess probably was doing the exact same thing a couple thousand years ago, and trying to ignore the tourists. This little excercise has been fun to play with on this trip, erasing the tourists and putting myself back in time ... read more

Motorhome News from Europe 20. Italy March 2005 Umbria, Marche and northwards to Venice and the Dolomites Gubbio, Urbino, San Marino, Rimini, Ravenna, Venice, The Dolomites, Cortina d'Ampezzo and Camazai It’s been another busy week for the grey haired nomads. After leaving Perugia, we continued our tour of historic towns with visits to the delightful towns of Gubbio and Urbino. Gubbio is, like Assisi and Perugia, an Umbrian hill town with grand piazzas, palazzos, fountains and churches. Despite it being a Sunday, the town was almost empty of tourists, the only sign of locals in any number seemed to be at the local football match. We found an excellent “sosta” (dedicated parking and overnighting area for motorhomes, often with water and waste facilities and usually free) in Gubbio, but the day was still young and we ... read more

Pavia and Milano March 26, 2004 When I was a teacher, I once had a conversation with several teachers that helped me understand the difficulty I was having with some of my students. We talked about the different perspective and character that develops in the children of families whose ancestors chose to immigrate to the United States and the children of families who were forced, commonly through slavery, to adapt to the United States. I realized that history (family, personal, ancestral, world…) is one of the strongest forces in developing who we are and the way we analyze the world around us. I chose to be in Italy with the glint of a romantic dream in my eye. I am still curious and hopeful, but also accepting of the sometimes dirty, sometimes banal truth of ... read more

March 24th Thursday morning 9:45am. Mercato Centrale. Klajd finds his way past the meat counters with whole chickens, cow intestines, bull tongue, all ready to be bought, boiled, grilled, herbed and eaten. We walk past the bread vendors and stacks of dried mushrooms, peppers, herbs and olives. He comes to the fish area and after dismissing several bags of mussels, decides on one vendor’s wares….this is the bag of mussels, after one sample is delicately sliced opened and sniffed, that he buys. My kitchen grew warm and the oven was soon converting salty water filled shells into mouth watering mussels lightly covered in olive oil and fresh basil and dusted with a light layer of bread crumbs. I was given a lesson in how to insert the tip of the knife and carefully slice open ... read more